The Chronicles of Melinda Halliwell:Say Goodbye
by piperandleo4eva
Summary: Time to vanquish Cutrain, but are Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda old enough to come along, or will Piper keep on protecting them?


The Chronicles of Melinda Halliwell 

Curtains for Cutrain

"Please pass the pig's foot."

"Ew. Do you really need a real pig's foot? Couldn't we just make one out of tofu?"

"Fine, don't pass the pig's foot. Wyatt, please pass the pig's foot because your sister doesn't want to get her hands dirty."

"Mom! That's not the reason and you know it. I just think that there's no reason that we still need to use outdated ingredients."

Piper sighed. "Maybe it's because these so-called outdated ingredients have never failed us before. You know the saying, if it ain't broke…" She trailed off, watching her oldest son silently pick up the pig's foot and hand it to her. A year ago, Wyatt would have been waving the foot in his sister's face, teasing her with it. That is, if he was even home at all. More likely he would have been out with his friends or just hanging with Mike.

"…don't fix it. I know Mom, but your potions have failed in the past." Piper was brought back to reality by her daughter's voice. "I mean, I hate to throw the past in your face, but what about when you made that potion that was the strongest one ever and it still didn't work on ex-Uncle Cole? Or how about Zankou or the Source? Potions didn't work on them."

Piper smiled. "That is why I am making a potion specifically to destroy Cutrain based on what Bianca's told me about him." Piper held up a page of notes. "Plus we are going to write a spell as soon as your aunts and Chris get here which will focus on vanquishing Cutrain in particular. In the meantime…" She walked across the attic and opened the Book of Shadows to a fresh page. "In the meantime we'll write an entry on both Cutrain and the disease in here. If the vanquish works, we'll add that later." She picked up the pot and headed for the stairs.

"Mom?" Piper stopped and turned around. "Where are you going?"

"Downstairs. This needs to boil for a while and I have to stir it while it boils." She turned back to the stairs.

"But I thought you said that you wanted to do the entry now."

Piper nodded. "Yes, I want you to do the entry now." Melinda gaped at her. "Don't look so shocked. I left you my notes from Bianca and you know all about the disease, you fought it. Come down when you're done and hopefully Chris, Phoebe, and Paige will be here. Come on Wyatt." She and Wyatt went downstairs, leaving Melinda alone with the Book.

_Cutrain: Upper level demon who mostly sticks to himself. Very smart and very evil. Willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants and will work with anyone who can and is willing to help. Most likely wants to become the next Source and thinks that killing a huge threat to the Underworld (Charmed Ones and progeny) will help him get that. To reach this end, he created a disease that kills Whitelighters in hopes of killing a Charmed One, her son, and another's husband and children. The purpose of this was that the Charmed Ones would think the disease was a natural thing and not suspect demon involvement. While this did not work, it was mostly due to the betrayal of one of his underlings, fueling his desire to remain alone. His powers include flame-throwing and walking through large solid objects such as walls. _

_Whitelighter disease: Created by Cutrain, its ingredients are mostly unknown, but it does contain Darklighter poison. It can infect a Whitelighter upon ingestion of the liquid form of the disease or touching an infected Whitelighter. For this reason, it cannot be healed in a normal way by a Whitelighter or Elder. A very strong healer is required because the healer needs to send the disease away. The healer should concentrate on sending the disease somewhere harmless and on healing the individual. _

"Melinda?" Wyatt's voice broke her out of her reverie. "Paige, Phoebe, and Chris are here. They've started writing the spell, but Mom didn't want you to miss out on the fun." He grinned with a trace of his old bravado, confidence, and teasing, but before Melinda could remark on it, it was gone. "Are you coming?" he asked as he headed for the stairs before she could answer.

Melinda grabbed the newly revised Book of Shadows and followed him to the dining room, where Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Chris were grouped around the table. Wyatt sat down between Chris and Phoebe, leaving Melinda to sit next to Paige. She sat, smiling slightly at her aunt. They hadn't spoken much, ever, as Paige always seemed to appreciate the boys more, since they were so into magic and Melinda just…wasn't. Still, she hoped that her aunt would let bygones be bygones and forget about the times that Melinda had simply orbed out in the middle of Whitelighter training because she had simply had enough magic for one day. Melinda pushed thoughts of her aunt out of her head as she looked down at the Book and Piper's notes, both of which she placed on the table in front of her.

"So," Phoebe said. "We need a spell that concentrates on Cutrain. On a…flame-throwing, wall-walking, disease-making, loner demon."

"Well," Piper said. "How about, 'Your flames are not to hot for us…'"

"…because Halliwells are dangerous!" Paige said.

"All right, one down, three to go." Phoebe said, writing down the slightly lame rhymes. "And then…Being alone is not so fun…"

"…when your disease is defeated by the power of one." Chris chimed in. Everyone looked at him. "What? It was, by Melinda."

Phoebe nodded writing down the next two lines. "All right, so now just the walking through walls is left, along with an actual vanquish."

All sat for a moment thinking, until Wyatt said, "You may be able to walk through walls like a ghost…"

"…but now you, Cutrain will be toast!" he and Melinda finished together, looking shocked and happy.

"Quick, someone get a video camera," Chris quipped, vocalizing what everyone was thinking. "Document this historical moment: Wyatt and Melinda actually agreeing."

"Okay," said Phoebe. "This is what we've got:

Your flames are not too hot for us

Because Halliwells are dangerous.

Being alone is not so fun

When your disease is defeated by the power of one.

You may be able to walk through walls like a ghost,

But now you, Cutrain, will be toast!"

"Combined with Piper's potion, that should work." Paige said. "Now all we need is a plan of attack. Piper, you and Phoebe and I should orb in. Piper, you freeze him, and then I'll throw the potion and we'll all three say the spell. Piece of cake."

"Not cake." Chris said. "Wyatt, Melinda, and I should come too."

"We can handle this alone." Paige retorted. "It's too dangerous for you three to come. Stay here. We'll let you know what happened when we get back."

"No," Chris said. "We fought that disease, same as you. We had as much to lose as you did. Now we want to get the demon that did it. Melinda can freeze, and Wyatt's the most powerful of all of us. And I can use my telekinesis if I need to. We can protect ourselves. Let us come."

"No," Piper said. "I almost lost you to Cutrain before, I'm not about to let that happen again."

No one spoke. Chris glared at his mother, but once she got like this there was no changing her mind.

"You don't want to leave us behind." Wyatt said quietly. "You don't want a repeat of the last time you made me wait behind."

Piper's face softened as she looked at her son. "But, honey, you wouldn't do that again, would you? Now that you know the consequences…" She trailed off, not wanting to bring up painful memories.

"I wouldn't, but Chris and Melinda would. And no one wants them to end up like Mike…" He trailed off, unable to go on.

Phoebe broke the solemn silence. "Um, I hate to be a buzz kill, but how are we even going to get to Cutrain? We can't vanquish him, any of us, unless we know where he is."

"We do know where he is though, or at least, we know how to find him." Melinda said.

Piper looked quizzical. "We do?"

"Well, not us really. Bianca, however, does."

Bianca stood in the manor's conservatory. "Okay, so what's the plan again? Just so I feel better about leading you to Cutrain after I betrayed him to save you."

Piper grinned bitterly. "You shimmer in with me first. I freeze Cutrain and you go back and get Paige. Then you shimmer back, get Phoebe and Wyatt. You shimmer back again, and Wyatt will orb back with you. You go home. Wyatt will bring Chris and Melinda to us. Cutrain will still be frozen. We throw potion and say spell. Cutrain screams and goes bye-bye. We come home. All are happy, all are safe. The end."

Phoebe be raised her hand tentatively. Piper shot her a look and said, "Yes, Phoebe, what is it?"

"Well, I hate to be a pain, but wouldn't it just be easier if Bianca brought you and Melinda first, and then after Cutrain was frozen, she and Melinda came back and got all four of us? Then Bianca could go home after two trips instead of three, and since Melinda can freeze too, it would be better for you, in case he tries something; you wouldn't be alone with no means of escape. I'd send everyone down on the first trip, but I know people need to see the place to orb to it, and only Bianca's ever been there."

Piper shook her head. "No. It's too dangerous to send Melinda with me. Her freezes don't last as long as mine, and she can't blow things up, which would at least impede Cutrain if he tried to attack, if not stop him altogether. We should keep to my plan."

"Hey, I'm standing right in front of you, so you can talk to me, not about me." Melinda retorted. "I want to go with you, Mom. If my freeze doesn't last, you could refreeze him. And I may not be able to blow anything up, but I can orb out if he throws fire or otherwise attacks."

"No, Melinda, it's too dangerous. I'm willing to stick my life on the line, but there's no reason for you to risk yours."

As Piper and Melinda started arguing, Paige stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Everyone froze, figuratively speaking.

"Thank you," she said. "Now, Melinda, I know you want to do something important, and Piper, I know you don't want her to unnecessarily risk her skin. But I agree with Phoebe that there's no reason for Bianca to make so many trips. So here's what I think. Phoebe, why don't you try to get a premonition of Cutrain and his lair off of Bianca? That way you and I can orb Piper there with us, and Bianca can take Chris, Wyatt, and Melinda. Unless that's too much of a load for you." she said to the teen.

Bianca smiled ruefully and said, "Could you take Wyatt? My capacity right now is two plus me. But I do think that that's an excellent plan."

"Then it's settled." Paige decided. "If Phoebe can get a premonition, we use my plan. If not, we can debate others." She nodded to Phoebe to try.

Phoebe stepped up to Bianca and placed a hand on her shoulder. Bianca nodded to her reassuringly. Phoebe closed her eyes and thought of Cutrain. Deciding what she wanted to see helped her enormously when trying to get a premonition, though she still hadn't mastered getting one without touching someone. Suddenly a vision came rushing towards her in living color.

_A demon that Phoebe had to assume was Cutrain was stirring a pot of something. He rubbed his hands together and laughed as he pulled a vial from his cloak. "It is done!" he yelled. "Power shall be mine! The Charmed Ones will be no more!"_

"Phoebe, what's wrong?" Both Piper and Paige were standing next to her, hands on her shoulders, looking worried.

"I saw Cutrain in his lair." Phoebe said. "He was definitely after us. He…" she shivered. "He had no feelings at all; he was just like…ice. He wants power, but just to wreak havoc for his own amusement. He doesn't want revenge or even pleasure. He just wants to rule."

Bianca nodded. "Cutrain doesn't feel. He thinks that that's the biggest problem with witches. He says that the best way to a witch is through her feelings, love, hate, anger, sadness, loss. He thinks that humans have weakened demons to that feeling point and that all they need is a strong, unfeeling leader to get them back to that unfeeling place." She turned to Phoebe. "Cutrain had a lot of respect for your ex-husband, by the way. He said that Belthazor was one of the least emotional demons he'd ever met and that he suppressed his human half beautifully, at least until he met you."

Phoebe gave Bianca a look that plainly declared her unhappiness in the choice of topic. "My ex-husband is irrelevant to the situation. Let's use Paige's plan and go down there and vanquish Cutrain's unfeeling ass." She grabbed Paige's arm and Piper's hand, getting ready to go.

"Wait!" Wyatt said. "I have an idea. Cutrain can't feel, right? So what if, Phoebe, you were to give him a good dose of feelings as we vanquished him. I mean, you can do that as an empath and all, right?"

Paige looked thoughtful. "You know, that just might work."

"It might be that added boost we were looking for earlier." Melinda said.

Phoebe looked dubious, but said "I'll do it."

The lair was dark and gloomy. "You know, you would think they could try for some variety in the décor." Paige grumbled as her sisters shushed her. Just then, Bianca shimmered in with Chris and Melinda in tow.

"All present and accounted for?" she asked as Piper counted heads.

Piper nodded. "Go on home," she said. "Thank you." Bianca shimmered out.

"All right," Piper whispered. "Potions out and at the ready. Everyone know the spell?" Everyone nodded as they pulled potion vials out of their pockets. "Then let's go."

They headed into the lair proper with Piper at the helm. Cutrain was standing at his cauldron as they entered.

He chuckled. "Ladies, gents, you're just in time. The latest batch of my illness is done, with some improvements. And I was looking for guinea pigs, but here you are! Let's get this done, shall we?" He threw a fireball in their direction, and as they scattered, a vial.

Luckily, Paige had quick reflexes. "Vial!" she said, sending it into the cauldron.

"I think that's enough playtime for today." Piper said from behind a rock formation as Cutrain looked for her voice. "But we do have time for one more game. How about Statues?" she said, popping up and freezing Cutrain mid-throw. "Potion time, potion time, people!" she yelled as they regrouped in front of Cutrain.

Everyone threw their potions at Cutrain's feet. Smoke started to billow. "All right, now for the spell. Phoebe, remember. Concentrate on making him feel the strongest feelings you have." Phoebe concentrated as they all recited.

_Your flames are not too hot for us_

_Because Halliwells are dangerous._

_Being alone is not so fun_

_When your disease is defeated by the power of one._

_You may be able to walk through walls like a ghost,_

_But now you, Cutrain, will be toast!_

Cutrain started to scream as he was engulfed by flames. Phoebe stared right in his eyes and concentrated on the hate he should have been feeling, that demons before him had. With a final scream, he was gone.

"Now what do we do with this?" Chris asked, walking over to the cauldron. Piper raised her hands to blow it up, but Melinda stopped her.

"Mom, if you blow that up, it will get all over the place and one of us will get infected. Why don't you let Paige orb it into a volcano or something like Dad did with those FBI files many years ago?"

Piper grinned and raised her eyebrows at her sister. Paige sighed. "All right, but you two are coming with me to hold the pot." She looked at her niece and nephews. "Can you guys get home all right?" They nodded, and she grinned. "Okay, but don't tell your cousins that you got to go on a vanquish or they'll want to come too." Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda grinned. "See you at the manor!" Paige said as she, Piper, and Phoebe orbed out.

Wyatt grinned at his siblings. Chris and Melinda exchanged looks. They knew that grin. It was Wyatt's old mischievous grin, and they hadn't seen it in almost a year. Wyatt grinned wider. "Last one home's a swarm demon!" he yelled, beginning to orb out. Chris and Melinda laughed, orbing out as well.


End file.
